


Trial and System Error

by Louse



Category: Steven Universe - Fandom, redemption au - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-03-31 08:28:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3970990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Louse/pseuds/Louse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being redeemed was the only way Peridot was going to live past being captured - though being terrified every second of her existence wasn't exactly ideal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Fight me

The last thing Peridot had wanted after she had been found by The Crystal Gems was to have her Gem shattered, or purposefully cracked to keep her docile, two things she had been threatened with when she had first been captured. Garnet and Pearl were just moments from cracking or shattering her Gem when Steven had intervened, Amethyst backing him up in a panic. Peridot wasn't exactly sure why Amethyst had made any attempt to help her - given the chance Peridot would have destabilized her and move on with her life if it had come to that on the ship. Whatever her and Steven's reasons had been, though, she supposed she thanked them for it.

'Redemption' was, well, bland. She learned how to interact with humans, and how to use their tech, and how to get by in a completely different society. It was also going to take time to adjust to the fact Rose Quartz was now effectively a three foot tall child, but also, not quite. It was her Gem Steven had, yes, but he wasn't Rose Quartz. It was all very confusing, and none of the other Gems wold explain it to her, and Steven barely understood enough himself to be of any help.

Peridot spent the time she wasn't being 'redeemed' either waiting for Steven to get back (because she was far from comfortable when she was alone with the other Gems) or putting her time to use, and fixing any broken human tech that came her way. To try and fit in, Steven had suggested offering to fix computers, which had extended to Peridot fixing anything electrical, and even the occasional car. Sadly, she was only allowed to fix, not improve, or else all of the computers that came her way would be performing at much better speeds.

That had gone well, she supposed. While she despised the human race, the people that brought her things to fix were always so pleased to see her. Then again, of course they would be. She fixed all of their broken shit for free, no doubt they were going to like her. She never smiled for them, however, and it was extremely confusing to her why that never put any of the humans off being friendly.

There was one wreck of a human being, Ronaldo, he kept trying to ask her about Homeworld, bringing in things she could tell he had purposefully broken for the sake of being able to see her. He was extremely annoying and she wished it was acceptable to just. Punch him in the face? Why wasn't that socially acceptable.

While she was mid repair, the door slammed open, Amethyst waddling into the room, arms wrapped around a box, which was heavy enough to give her difficulty walking. Peridot could have helped, of course, but she opted for staying seated and merely watching. She smirked a bit, amused by the fact Amethyst nearly dropped the box.

"You could be helping, you know." Amethyst huffed, setting the box down, hand on her hip looking at Peridot, who merely shrugged and got back on with her work.

"I am busy repairing this computer, and then a phone, for the 'Pizza' family." They didnt break their stuff often, but when they did it took an age to fix anything. Really, they should just buy new computers with how damaged they always end up being once Peridot gets her hands on them to fix them well, her fingers, she supposed. 

"Well then I guess I just wont show you what's in the box then." Amethyst rolled her eyes, starting to push the box right then, and towards Peridot. Hearing that the sound of shuffling and the occasional, muttered word Peridot could only imagine was some kind of Gem or human obscenity, she glanced round.

"If you have no intention of showing me what's in the box then-"

"It's stuff for you so of course I have to show you it." Once the box was close enough by Amethyst's standard, she opened up the box. Peridot stood, though she assumed it was just more things to repair. Why would it be anything else? Though, within the box, there didn't seem to be a single whole computer, phone, or any device really. "Computer parts. You spend sooo long building and repairing other people's computers, I figured, why not let you have your own? Pearl didn't want to. But Garnet said yes." 

Pearl said no to pretty much anything. Pearl was the one who argued the most when Steven said not to kill Peridot after all. There was something up with Pearl, and it wasn't that she had defected, either. 

"...Thank you, Amethyst." Peridot wasnt exactly sure how to react to the gift. Most people would thank whoever had given them the gift, and at least show some excitement about the gift, she should probably look through the parts, or even set aside the work she was doing on the Pizza's devices to start building. The gift, however, didn't enthuse her, nor did it make her happy, she was possibly ungrateful for that, but a shitty human computer wasn't going to make up for being practically a prisoner so she wasn't killed. Regardless, to avoid being rude, she did rummage through the box a little, before gathering up her tools and beginning to build, not saying much else to Amethyst after that.

The purple Gem stood and watched for a few moments, before sitting down to observe instead. Peridot doubted Amethyst actually found what she was doing interesting in the slightest, but the silent company was appreciated she supposed. Being alone for long periods of time while she worked was starting to affect her, even just having Amethyst or Steven in the house while she was there was a relief, though she did prefer if they didn't speak to her.

Peridot was building the computer extremely quickly - it didn't take her long to have half of the components for the tower put together, one hand already starting to pull out the pieces for the monitor out of the box to start on that once the tower was done to a decent standard. All the while, Amethyst sat and watched, silent for the most part, only speaking up when Peridot did begin working on the monitor.

"I thought that would have taken you way longer." Amethyst frowned a little. "Maybe I should bring you more to build." Peridot didn't need that computer, let alone any others, but she just nodded. 

"I would like that, but what would you do with the spare computers that I would have built?" Peridot started to piece the monitor together, not looking at Amethyst as she spoke. Primitive as human technology was, and easy as it was to figure out how it went together and functioned, she didn't want to screw it up, that would just be embarrassing.

"I dunno." Amethyst shrugged. "Sell them I guess?" That made sense Peridot supposed. That way she would be contributing something to the Crystal Gems and not just Beach City's residents. She may even be able to make Pearl less angry with her presence by maybe using some of the money to go and buy Steven some of those things he liked so much, what were they called again? Donuts? Something like that, she wouldn't be able to miss the store, it had a huge ring-like sweet on top of it.

"That sounds like a reasonable solution." Peridot did stop building her computer then, though. "May I ask why you, most likely, argued with Pearl for the sake of giving me this?" She gestured at the computer and the parts that still weren't attached. "There must be a reason." Accusing Amethyst of having ulterior motives possibly wasn't the best idea, but Peridot was a cautious Gem, she didn't trust any of the residents of Earth, even her own kind. Then again she trusted virtually nobody back on Homeworld either. 

"I just thought it would give you something other than work to do." Amethyst didn't seem offended, at least. "I'm not planning or scheming against you." Ok right then, she did look just a little but offended and upset. "I'm not here to hurt you, I backed Steven up when he stopped Pearl-"

"That, I also must ask about, why did you do that? Not that I'm not thankful, it's just been confusing me. I'm the enemy. The other two members of your team were ready to shatter or crack my Gem to keep me docile, why did you side with Steven?"

After a few moments of silence, Amethyst answered, but while she had been quiet Peridot had feared that she had gone too far, and pushed one of her semi-allies away.

"Because Steven is always right about these thing. Usually. He was right about centipeetle, he was right about staying with us when you and Jasper came to Earth - in the end he was right about Lapis even though him being right about Lapis caused this entire mess." While her speech had started to sound like an angry rant, she seemed to catch herself. "...Besides, you seem really cool, and I wanted to wait until you were settled in to ask about your Gem tech and your finger thingies."

Peridot didn't get to say anything else, Amethyst just got up and left, informing Peridot that she was going to the Big Donut to get something to eat and that she'd bring something back for Peridot. 

...Peridot despised eating, but she never liked turning down food if she was offered it, for fear of being seen as rude or argumentative. The last thing she wanted to do was give Pearl any fuel she so desperately wanted to kill Peridot. Though, the fact that the green Gem wouldn't remove the diamond from her uniform, and was hesitant to wear a star instead was possibly already doing that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fight me fucker

The following days were less monotonous. Peridot wasn't just fixing things now, she was building them too. Computers were built, phones, laptops, whatever Amethyst could get by Pearl. They were sold fairly quickly, too, since they were cheap and good quality. Peridot had been allowed to set the price and as long as she gave Amethyst back what had been spent on the parts she got to keep the profits, which was barely twenty human dollars per sale at first. She had done her research on human business and the best models that worked, and starting off cheap, getting a name, then charging more seemed to work out. Granted, she may not be able to charge much more, since there weren't many people in Beach City. Hopefully word would get around, though.

After getting permission from Garnet to leave the house and head to the Big Donut, Peridot left, heading towards the building with the large, baked good on top of it. It was amusing, she supposed, though it must have been a hassle to get it up there in the first place. Pushing open the door and entering, she lifted a 'hand' in a greeting. "Greetings, Sadie, Lars." Peridot wasn't that fond on Lars. Sadie, she could stand. Lars she wanted to punch, he was a cocky, mindless fool who made an idiot of himself when he tried to appear 'cool and casual'. Truly, a human she hated, alongside Ronaldo. 

"Hi Peridot!" Sadie beamed, waving eagerly. "I haven't seen you in here since Steven last brought you in." Lars merely nodded in Peridot's general direction, headphones in, ignoring the work he should be doing.

"Yes, it has been a while. I was very busy with working on repairs - speaking of which." She opened up the green messenger bag she had been given by Connie, pulling out a mobile phone, and holding it out to Sadie. "I finished repairing your phone last night. The speakers work fine now, as does the display."

"Thanks!" Sadie took the phone, grinning. "Finally now my mom can stop worrying about not being able to get hold of me." Once Sadie pocketed the phone, she spoke again. "You can have some donuts free, since you didn't ask for any money to fix my phone, I'll just put the money in the till."

"No, no I am willing to pay for the donuts, I'm earning money from building and selling various devices now." It wasn't much, it seemed. Twenty human dollars would but about ten human donuts, maybe. Hm...she may need to up her prices sooner than expected. "Which ones are Steven's favourites?"

"I'll still put a few extra in the bag - oh you're here to get them for Steven? He likes these ones." Sadie pointed at a few of the donut flavors.

"One of each of those then, please." Peridot pulled a ten dollar note out of the bag, laying it on the counter. Sadie bagged the donuts, and as promised a couple extra, before taking the money and giving Peridot back her change.

"Thanks again, hope to see you again soon Peridot." Sadie still smiled wide and bright, even though her co-worker was an asshole. If only Peridot had the strength to smile through Jasper's bullshit. 

"I will hopefully see you again soon, I will be back for more donuts" Peridot nodded, though still didn't smile. "Goodbye." She left after that, making her way back to the house. After climbing the short hill an then the stairs, she spotted Steven about to open the door. "Ah, Steven!" She called out, picking up the pace and jogging over, before unceremoniously holding the bag of donuts out. "I bought you some donuts."

Steven's eyes lit up, reaching to take the bag.

"Oh man, thanks Peridot!" Steven was that excited over a bag of baked goods...? Peridot would have to keep that in mind, maybe see what else Steven liked. It seemed that if she made Steven happy, then Pearl and Garnet would be better around her. Steven opened up the bag, grinning wider. "These are my favourite - how did you know?" Peridot didn't get time to answer before he bounded into the house. "Guuuuys! peridot bought donuts! Anyone want one?"

"Meeeeeeeee!" Amethyst had leaped up off the couch and landed by Steven, taking one of the donuts offered to her and devouring it, Steven taking a little more time as he ate the one he'd taken out of the bag for himself. Pearl and Garnet didn't bother with getting up to get one. They were discussing something, Peridot wasn't sure if she dared to eavesdrop.

Pearl did look over at Peridot when she stepped in, though. 

"Hello, Peridot." Pearl's voice was just as cold as it usually was when she greeted the green Gem, but at least she had a more genuine smile? Maybe? Peridot had no clue. Garnet gave Pearl a gentle nudge, which caused her to frown.

"Howdy." Garnet smiled, she liked that joke of a greeting, didn't she?

"Greetings." Peridot just nodded, before hurrying past, to get back to the computers and phones and such she needed to work on. Anything to avoid having to deal with standing or sitting around Pearl and Garnet. Admittedly, now everything had calmed down, Garnet really wasn't so bad - she seemed to believe in Steven's choice to keep Peridot alive. Pearl ust point blank refused to see any good in Peridot.

Then again, Peridot would be more than willing to reactivate the inkdergarten and take off back to Homeworld the first chance she got. Pearl had every right not to trust her. Once she was sat down, Peridot started to put together a phone. This one was for herself - Steven wanted to be able to call and text her, and the Gems had agreed to pay the 'contract' that came with a 'Sim Card'. How the Gems even generated money, Peridot would never know. Maybe they just sold things they had gathered form thousands of years back. Amethysts's room was full of just about everything after all.

"Whatcha working on now?" Peridot nearly leaped out of her seat, turning round to glare at Amethyst, who had seemingly appeared behind her and startled her.

"A phone, for me. The one Steven wants me to have, so he can contact me when I am not in the house, or if he is out and about." Her glare lessened when she realized Amethyst hadn't had any malicious intentions with the scare. She was just a playful Gem, too playful, and immature, though that would have come from being extracted a few hundred years early from the kindergarten. 

"Think you can make me a phone? I'll pay you for it!" Why the hell did Amethyst even want - Peridot didn't even bother.

"Yes. You dont have to pay me however." Peridot justw anted Amethyst to go - or no she wanted Amethyst to stay but to also be quiet.

"Nah Ill pay you." Amethyst watched once Peridot got back to work, quiet for a handful of minutes. "Know what we haven't done yet, Peridot? Anything. Me and you have done literally nothing! You've been swordfighting with Pearl.... ok we wont think too hard on that." Pearl had tried to stab Peridot so many times, it was unreal. "Garnet took you to mini-golf with Steven, and Steven's done tons of stuff with you, but we haven't done anything."

"Well, I suppose you want to remedy that, but what with?" Peridot stopped her work to look at Amethyst, now dreading what the other had in mind. The grin that spread across Amethyst's face wasn't too comforting, either.

"I found a really cool Gem Monster, but it's stuck, and I wanted to deal with it myself buuuuut it could be a good time for us to hang out."

Peridot thought on that for a moment...yes, bringing down a Gem Monster was sure to get Pearl to stop being so cold towards her. She nodded.

"Sounds good to me, Amethyst. When should we go?"


	3. Chapter 3

Once night fell, Amethyst led Peridot out of the house through the warp pad, and into the middle of what appeared to be nowhere at first. It was quiet, until a screech, loud and piercing, sounded. That must have been the Gem Monster they were there to destroy. 

Peridot followed Amethyst, looking over into deepish trench in the ground, the creature that looked somewhat similar to a human boar was trapped under a pile of boulders. It was lashing out and screaming, yellow fluid dripping from the corners of it's mouth in what appeared to be a panicked rage.

"That yellow stuff is acid, don't touch it." Amethyst informed Peridot, before drawing her whip from her Gem. "You ready?"

"What is it you need me to do...?" Peridot asked - she hadn't dealt with Gem Monsters before. She wasn't the Gem to do that kind of job - if anything she was attitudal tech support, not a monster hunter. 

"Think you can distract it?" Peridot nodded, of course she could do that. She jumped into the trench, watching as the boar like beast's gaze focused on her. She could see the Gem - it was on the side of it's head, an odd, yellowy green color, a and like shape and jutting out by quite a length, though she couldn't identify the Gem from where she was stood. Peridot produced a small disk from her Gem - not her weapon, but useful - before tossing it over to the beast.

It let out a low hum at first, before a loud, crackling noise of static, startling the monster. It worked, though, the poor Gem trying to stomp or bite the disk to make it stop sounding off. Peridot felt sorry for it, actually - it was trapped, unable to move, and the sound must have been torturous. Thankfully, Amethyst didn't wait long.

She didn't bother with trying to damage it's physical form. She just threw the whip forward, wrapping it around the Monster's Gem once it was still enough, disk clamped between its jaws as it bit down, yanking her arm back and tugging the Gem right out. The physical form convulsed and screamed, for a good few seconds, before simply exploding into a cloud of thick smoke. Amethyst caught the Gem in her hand, holding it up after for Peridot to see.

"Yea-heah we did it!" Amethyst grinned wide, and Peridot allowed for the smallest smile, taking the Gem from Amethyst to observe it.

"Yes we did-"

"AMETHYST!" Peridot froze up as she heard the voice, head turning to see Pearl at the top of the trench. Even Amethyst shrank back, eyes wide. "What are you DOING?" Pearl jumped down into the trench, followed by Garnet not too long afterwards.

"I found a Gem Monster, and -" Amethyst was interrupted.

"You didn't think to tell us? What, you thought you could just come here and deal with it yourself! or bring Peridot!?" Pearl's glare turned from Amethyst to Peridot, who took a step back, clutching the Gem in her hand out of fear. "And you went along with it!?"

"I-I can explain, I-"

"You can explain back at the temple!" Pearl snapped. Garnet had picked Amethyst up, much to the short Ge's protest. The Gem was snatched out of Peridot's hand, before the other three Gems left her. Peridot just stood there for a minute, she wasn't even told to follow them, was she even wanted back? She let out a shaky sigh, before climbing back up, and then heading to the warp pad. Once she warped back into the house, she could see Pearl was stood waiting for her.

"Pearl, I-"

"You have no excuse, Peridot. The conditions of you being here were that you behaved and that you didn't do anything to endanger the team."

"i just wanted to-"

"You should have told Amethyst she needed to tell us about the Monster. You should have told us about the Monster! What if Amethyst had gotten hurt? Retreated into her Gem? What would you have done then!?"

"Pearl-"

"I don't know why Steven wanted to keep you around, honestly, you just, ugh you just sit and you play with computer parts, and you endangered the team-"

"Pearl I wanted to prove that I could contribute!" Peridot ended up shouting, it was the only way she was going to get a word in edgeways it seemed. "I wanted to prove that I could be beneficial to the team, and that I could do more than just sit and 'play with computer parts'. I thought, maybe if I helped Amethyst with the Gem Monster, because she would have gone by herself regardless of what I would have done or said, that I would be more welcome here, looks like I was wrong, no matter what I do I can't seem to do anything right-" That's when she realized she'd gone too far. She stepped backwards off the warp pad, eyes wide. "I-I'm sorry, Pearl."

Pearl was silent for a few moments, saying nothing, and not moving, before she scowled, and pushed past Peridot to open the door to her room, and without saying a word she was gone. Garnet and Amethyst had witnessed the argument, of course, but neither of them said anything either, and Steven wasn't even there. Was he at Connie's? It was too late for him to be out so she assumed so. 

Peridot just fled the communal room, and tucked herself away in a corner of the makeshift room that had been constructed for her using one of the alcoves of the house. She hugged her knees to her chest, looking at the diamond markings on them. Maybe that's why. Maybe she needed to get rid of those. She didn't want to be a Crystal Gem. She didn't want to wear a star, she didn't want to be part of the team if she wasn't welcome, but while she was there she wanted to contribute, and at least feel somewhat welcome. At least working with Jasper, her help was fucking welcomed. 

With a shaky sigh, her Gem glowed, ridding her clothing of the diamond markings. She couldn't wait until Yellow Diamond sent more Gems to look for her and Jasper.


	4. Chapter 4

Peridot didn't leave her room for days. She hadn't moved for days. She didn't want to move, and the fact that nobody checked on her just further proved that she was only being kept so she wasn't a threat, and because Steven gave a shit about her, for whatever reason. She tensed up as her door opened, looking up to see Amethyst stood in the doorway. 

"You doing alright in here?" She asked. "You've been in here for days. We haven't even heard a sound from you." Peridot hadn't even been working on repairs or building anything, she just wanted to be alone, and stay in her corner.

"I'm fine, Amethyst." She knew it wasn't very convincing, but Amethyst was a reckless Gem, she was immature, playful. She was sporadic and didn't dwell on anything so she would surely get bored in a few seconds and leave, right?

"No, you're not fine." Amethyst shut the door behind her as she entered the room, sitting by Peridot. If she'd noticed the diamonds were gone, she didn't say anything. "Even if you don't like any of us you normally at least made an effort to say hi."

"I just wanted some time alone. I'm alright, really. There is no reason to be concerned." For once Peridot didn't even want silent company, though, at the same time she was desperate for someone to talk to? She didn't understand. She wanted to be alone but she needed someone to be there at the same time. 

"I'm sorry, about the whole, Monster thing. I didn't think Pearl would be so pissed about it." Peridot frowned at hearing Amethyst swear, then again chances were she just watched her mouth when Steven was around. Peridot was foul mouthed herself, at times, so she understood she supposed. "She's grumpy about everything, sure, but she's never that mad about anything! Besides, she doesn't even care that much about me so why she was so 'worried' about me s beyond confusing. I think she just needs a reason to be shouting."

"..No, Amethyst. She had a point. What we did was reckless. You could have been hurt. You are a member of the team and you are a Crystal Gem, you're important. I wouldn't have known what to do if you were hurt because I've never hunted a Gem monster before. This is my fault."

Silence, for a good minute, before Amethyst sighed, trying to somewhat awkwardly get her hand around one set of Peridot's fingers. 

"..Come on. You can't stay in here forever. Let's go somewhere harmless. Like the Big Donut or the arcade." Peridot would have rather stayed at the house, but she nodded. She should get out, Pearl may not even be that angry anymore.

They did have to walk by Pearl, who only asked where they were going. It was clear Pearl was hesitant, but allowed them to go as long as Peridot left her phone on. The contract was set up for it, and the other Gems seemed to have phones now too. They must have take them from the built and ready to sell pile. That was okay, she'd planned on giving them all phones if they'd wanted them, anyway.

That thought pushed aside, she followed after Amethyst, heading into Beach City, towards the arcades it seemed. Peridot had liked the arcade the once she had been there, so aybe this day wouldn't be do bad. Their first stop was the dance machine - her clunky boots made it pretty difficult, and Amethyst won, of course, but it distracted her at least. She was just worried she may end up stomping a hole through the machine.

Amethyst was pretty cocky at that point - she'd won the first game, she was convinced she'd win the others, and oh she was so confident, Peridot could almost sense that she was going to make a bet.

"Hey, Peridot." Here it comes. "I bet I can beat you at that game." She pointed at one of the shooters, smirking. "If I win I get to play on your holopad, thingie whatever it is."

"And if I win?" Peridot asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pssh, as if you would win! But juuust in case you do, if you somehow win, I'll convince Pearl to let you go somewhere of your choice - bar Homeworld, or too far out of Beach City." Peridot thought that over, before frowning.

"Amethyst there really isn't anywhere I want to go, since I can't get home. Home would be the only palce I would really want to travel to. How about this instead; if I win, I get to choose something from your room and keep it."

Amethyst frowned at that, clearly, the junk in her room was valuable to her, but even then, she nodded, the bet was agreed upon.

Of course, Amethyst was all kinds of ready to kick Peridot's ass. She slotted the coins into the machine, picking up her gun, grinning at Peridot, who already had her gun at the ready. She was focused on the screen, and once they both hit 'ok' and the cutscene was over, they began shooting the various small microbotic creatures that chased after them as they moved backwards through some kind of tunnel system.

Clearly, Amethyst wasn't keeping track of the score because she was still smirking, despite the fact Peridot hadn't missed once, and her score was almost double Amethysts's. Once Amethyst died in game, Peridot stopped playing too, so that her character would be killed so they would have had an equal amount of time playing. Amethyst's eyes widened at seeing the score, jaw dropped.

"..How did you..." She looked at Peridot in amazement, who could practically see the dread in her eyes. Success, but she didn't want to see Amethyst looking so, well, worried to lose something.

"Training. They used simulators like these when Gem Technology was starting to advance." She placed the gun back down. "Shall we head to your room now, or later?"

Amethyst grumbled, leading Peridot out of the arcade and back to the temple. Thankfully, Garnet and Pearl weren't there, and Steven was playing on his game so he just said hi then continued to play.


	5. Chapter 5

Peridot had placed what she had taken from Amethyst on her desk - it was nothing special, she was not that cruel. It was merely a hunk of useless Earth rock, nothing that would be missed, she was sure. It was a pittance in comparison to what she could have taken but she had no use for anything in Amethyst's room, so taking something valueless was the best way to go.

Well, she had assumed it held no value until she found Amethyst in her room, whining about how she wanted to win the rock back, putting more of her belongings on the line in the chance to get it back. Really all Amethyst had to do was ask, but Peridot would humor her.

"If I can beat you at that game you're playing." Amethyst pointed at the single player dungeon crawler Peridot had been idling through. "I get it back! if I lose, I dunno, you get to choose something else from my room."

"You value this rock, I assume." Peridot agreed regardless. She even went first and demonstrated the most effective tactics, the controls, and even hidden areas for Amethyst to collect bonus gold. Peridot died in-game a fight before the final bos of the dungeon, before moving aside and letting Amethyst try.

Amethyst, of course, didn't get any further than Peridot did, but instead of taking it like a good sport, she huffed.

"Rematch!" Peridot humored her again, but of course, she won yet again. Amethyst demanded another rematch, clearly, he was desperate for that rock back. Peridot simply picked up the rock, and offered it to Amethyst.

"You may have it back - all you had to do was ask, I have no use for it." Peridot waited for Amethyst to take the rock, and when the other Gem did, she let her arm lower. "Now that you have finished betting your belongings do you want to continue trying to defeat this dungeon? No bets, no wagers, I am genuinely unable to defeat this dungeon."

Amethyst beamed, and agreed. Now that there were no bets in place the atmosphere was much more relaxed - they took it in turn without competition to try and reach the boss, and once it was reached, took it in turns trying to defeat said boss. They went at it for a handful of hours, the sun having gone down already, but Amethyst had been left with Peridot to supervise, since Steven was still in the house, so bar Steven occasionally wandering in, they were undisturbed.

It was Amethyst that defeated the boss, with barely a few health points in her team to spare. She fist-pumped the air, grinning wide. "Alright! I OWN this dungeon!" She was so proud of herself that Peridot could only find it amusing. 

"Thank you, it was starting to drive me mad." Peridot watched as Amethyst stood, heading over to the mattress in Peridot's room, flopping down onto it. "..What are you doing?" Peridot's eyebrow raised as Amethyst's arms outstretched to Peridot.

"Crashing here for a while. You should join me, it can't hurt for you to chill out for a few minutes." Peridot was hesitant, mainly because she knew Amethyst enjoyed sleep, which Peridot had no interest in. Regardless, she found herself sitting beside Amethyst, only for a moment before she was pulled down so she was laying.

"How long do you plan on 'crashing'?" Peridot was less amused now, she didn't much want to be stuck there on the mattress with Amethyst. While she was free to stand up, she supposed that would be rude and she didn't want to piss off her one ally.

"As long as I can until Pearl chases me out." Amethyst let out a heavy, relaxed sigh, closing her eyes. Peridot frowned, but closed her own eyes, she may as well try this sleep thing, she supposed - "You should put a star on."

"I don't think that's the best course of action right now, Amethyst. Pearl and Garnet are less than amused with my presence as is - they do not consider me one of you, so wearing your symbol will, most likely, aggravate them further. I no longer bear diamonds. For now that will have to be enough."

"But Peridot, think about it. Pearl's been all kinds of up a height worrying about whether or not you'll go back to Yellow Diamond after all of this. You got rid of the diamonds but now you're blank. You could go either way now."

"While that is true I like my Gem being intact. Pearl was willing, and eager, to shatter it not long ago."

"I'll be there, if you do the thing with the stars. Steven will be, too. He wants you to be part of the team, so do I. So does Garnet. She's mysterious and harsh, but she wants what's best for everyone, even if it takes a while for anyone to realize it." Amethyst shrugged. "Meh, what do I know though. I was kind of just, taken in."

"..Thank you, Amethyst, I do appreciate what you're trying to do for me. I will at least attempt to wear a star. Though when to present myself with it I will have to think over. I don't want to put myself further at risk for the sake of a slight chance I may be considered part of a team I have contributed nothing to thus far."


	6. Chapter 6

After a few hours of debate, and the other two Gems having returned home, Peridot had placed a star upon her chest, a yellow closer to Steven's star rather than the yellow of the diamonds she ha worn before. She was hesitant, Amethyst having to grab her arm and drag her out eventually. All eyes fell onto Peridot, who tensed up, fingers gripping Amethyst's arm now.

There was silence, for a handful of moments, before Pearl turned to face Peridot square-on, Garnet doing the same. Peridot didn't have the strength to speak up, she was, quite simply, terrified.

"Hey, guys." Amethyst started speaking, albeit nervously. "I managed to convince Peridot to wear a star! Isn't that great?" The strained smile on Amethyst's face fell when nobody reacted. Steven had now woken up, and was peering over the edge of his bed to watch, Peridot had spotted him, but had said nothing. Dragging him into this for her own safety would be a last resort, because she would have to flee if she did that.

"Peridot." Pearl's voice was stern, perhaps even colder than usual. Peridot could practically feel her gem cracking and shattering already.

"Yes, Pearl?" She should just remove the star now. Pearl wasn't impressed, and Garnet was tense, Amethyst wa the only thing between her and the two of them. As much as Amethyst wanted to help, she wouldn't stand a chance.

"Remove that, immediate-" 

"No!" Steven leaped down off his bed and bounded down the stairs, arms wide and waving similar to how a bird would flap it's wings, standing between Pearl and Peridot, despite the fact nobody had summoned their weapons. "She just wants to be part of the team, Pearl! Like us!" He jogged over to Peridot, pointing at her star, and then his own. "See? They're the same color, too!"

At least Steven was more confident in his approach to it all than Amethyst had been. Amethyst herself was just stood beside Peridot, now nodding, agreeing with Steven, all the whole Peridot was just frozen on the spot, eyes locked on Pearl. Before Pearl even began to speak again, Peridot's Gem glowed, removing the star from her chest, before he released Amethyst's arm and returned to her room without another word, shutting the door and pressing her back against it in hopes that it would keep anyone who tried to get in out.

The argument on the other side of the door was far from quiet. Steven, Pearl and Garnet all arguing, Amethyst staying pretty quiet, probably having fled too.

"Pearl she wanted to be like us! Like me!" Steven cried out in Peridot's defence, probably using some wild flailing arm gesture.

"She is NOT like us!"

The argument continued, for a handful of minutes, before Garnet ended it fairly swiftly.

"Steven. I know, you want Peridot to be a Crystal Gem, you want her to be one of us and help us save Earth, but she has been alligned with Yellow Diamond for a long time, and as for how genuine her trying to be part of the team is, we just don't know. We can't just let her use our symbol like that. We fought long and hard bearing it to protect Earth, it's not just something she can wear to appease us."

There was silence other than the temple door opening and closing, Peridot shut her eyes and grit her teeth. If that didnt drive home that she wasn't wanted then she wasn't sure what else would. She would go back to Homeworld if she could, she wanted to leave. Slumping against the door, yet again, she let out a soft whimper. She was confused, and afraid, and she could do virtually nothing to change that.

She was there for a handful of hours before a gentle knock on her door sounded.

"Peridot, you still in there?" Amethyst's voice.

"Yes, but I would rather be alone for now." Peridot responded, not moving from the door.

"Look I'm sorry, just let me in, I'm not going to make you do anything else." It took a moment or so but Peridot moved aside, opening the door, and while her expression around Amethyst was usually neutral this time she was glaring.

"Twice, Amethyst. Twice, your ideas have made Pearl and Garnet despise me even more. I have made no progress towards them being at least comfortable with me being here, thanks to you. Unless you have a button to press to fix all of this, which you don't, then leave."

Amethyst was silent for a while, just looking up at Peridot, before her eyes narrowed, less in suspicion and more in anger, and to try fight back tears.

"I wanted to help you! I didn't mean for any of this to go wrong!" Her fists clenched, and Peridot took a step back, eyes wide. "I saw how Pearl was treating you and I know how that feels, I wanted to make sure you were welcome here! But I screwed everything up like I usually do and I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry." A few more moments of silence followed, before Amethyst just turned and fled to her room.

"Amethyst wait." Peridot too off after her, only just managing to make it through the door before it shut. She looked around, gritting her teeth. It could take a while to find Amethyst in amongst this mess, but she had to try. "Amethyst come back, I didn't mean-" She staggered back as something hit her square in the face, dazing her for a few seconds, vision blurred and static-covered for that span of time.

Once she righted herself and her vision returned to normal, she looked to where the object had some from. She dodged the one that had been just a foot away from her. Amethyst, in her rage and possibly even panic, was throwing anything she could get her hands on at Peridot.

"Get out of my room!" She cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I didn't invite you, I didn't say you could come in! Leave!"

"Amethyst, listen to me!" Peridot made her way towards Amethyst, dodging items that were thrown at her. "I'm sorry. I know you were trying to assist me, I know you had no bad intentions, I let my anger get the better of me-"

"I SAID GET OUT!" Peridot couldn't dodge the whip that wrapped around her, tight enough to cause her to wheeze in surprise. SHe didn't need to breathe, no, but that didn't mean being crushed didn't hurt. She ended up falling to the ground, eyes screwing shut as she tried to block out the screaming and yelling Amethyst was dishing out, a well as memories of the ship crashing and having to be launched through space.

Once all was quiet, Peridot felt the pressure release her. She did her best to stand, but was in a lot of pain and only managed to kneel, looking at Amethyst.

"Amethyst. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" She didn't get to finish her sentence before Amethyst's arms wrapped around her, the purple Gem's head buried into her shoulder. Amethyst was shaking, trying not to sob.

Peridot's arms couldn't have been comfortable when she wrapped them around the other, but she wasn't going to ignore the gesture. Amethyst needed comfort, and even if Peridot had no idea how exactly to do that, it seemed Amethyst was telling her what she needed.

"...The Big Donut should be open soon. Would you like me to go with you and buy you something to eat?" Amethyst just nodded, but didn't move other than that.


End file.
